Child migrants are America's great shame

What country are we in when the latest House of Horrors story about illegal immigration results in another scramble for political advantage?

This can't be America.

The Obama administration wants an extra $1.4 billion to care for tens of thousands of children who are coming across the southern border alone and illegally.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert W. Goodlatte called this humanitarian crisis an "administration-made disaster." He's a card-carrying member of the Republican majority that has blocked immigration reform.

Politics as usual.

Obama isn't off the hook. He's been quietly managing disaster instead of yelling "fire" in this burning building. Yelling could help.

This horror is not new. But few people know about it.

In the past eight months, 47,000 children have been apprehended along the southwest border. This represents a steady increase from 2009. The numbers could reach 60,000 this year, according to AP.

Most are from Central America, and increasing numbers of them are girls and children younger than 13.

They travel alone and vulnerable. Can't you see the predators lining up to greet them along the way?

They are fleeing poverty and violence. They are seeking family members who came before.

They come for the American Dream.

Sure. It's a mistake. They shouldn't come. But don't blame kids who walk through hell to reach our borders.

They wouldn't come if the United States had fixed its immigration policies long ago.

They wouldn't come if their undocumented parents didn't find it so easy to work in a country that loves cheap labor -- but treats cheap laborers like a disposable commodity.

These children arrive in a land of spineless politicians who can't let go of their wedge issue and vote for immigration reform.